676 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
and saxifrages abound naturally. Of all the cultivated 
crops it is probable that alfalfa—that wonderful forage 
plant, thrives best with a minimum of water. So we find 
the rancher growing his alfalfa and his oat hay, depending 
on winter moisture to a considerable extent to push the 
latter. Not the least interesting fact in this connection is 
the growing of great areas in regions popularly supposed a 
few years ago to be desert lands and only recently made 
productive. The secret of the crop producing power of 
this soil is due not to irrigation or fertilizing but rather to 
the conservation and complete utilization of the natural 
rainfall. This is done by special methods of soil manipula¬ 
tion. The same system is in vogue in the dry sections of 
Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming and farther west; and has 
also found its way into the Canadian Northwest where the 
same conditions of naturally rich soil and limited rainfall 
prevail. So the traveler’s eye now sweeps over great 
stretches of wheat, of oats, alfalfa, and farther east of 
potatoes and corn, where but a few years ago the rancher 
shared the territory with the Jack rabbit, the coyote and 
prairie dog. 
The traveler from the East cannot help wondering as he 
compares vegetative growth at home with that which he 
sees in this region; as he remembers and contrasts the home 
comforts and the home beauties of the snug cottage in New 
England with the desert-like barrenness of the Westerner’s 
shack, what is the overpowering inducement which carries a 
settler away from the East with its large opportunities to 
these rough and crude surroundings? As a matter of fact, 
much of this land is taken up by the sons of men who them¬ 
selves settled with the advance guard of pioneers a genera¬ 
tion ago. The natural thing is to go West. The East does 
not spell opportunity to these men. While it often beckons 
the ambitious professional man or the capitalist, it has 
little attraction for the western bred. Then again, the im¬ 
migrant is either settled in an eastern city or hurried 
through to the golden west, and thus this western land is 
filling. While the Easterner may be bound to his native 
heath by association and tradition the Westerner is governed 
by an exhilarating spirit of optimism. He thinks less of the 
home plot than of the entire western country. The spirit 
of the West which knows no bounds is his, and if Kansas 
does not suit, Colorado or Idaho are equally compelling and 
possess the essential requirements. But the tide is bound 
to turn and it requires no prophetic vision to proclaim the 
time not far distant when the lands of the East will again be 
in demand not merely as summer homes for the rich but as 
orchard, truck and dairy farms by men who will appreciate 
the native fertility, the abundant precipitation and the 
proximity of the great consuming centers of the eastern 
states. 
BRITISH COLUMBIA “INFESTED” BY INSPECTORS 
Nursery conditions in this part are such as to drive any 
self-respecting nurseryman out of business. Years ago, 
before we heard of all these new jaw breaking names for all 
these old fungous and insect pests with which our orchards 
have been infested for hundreds of years, and long before we 
were attacked by these long haired college graduates with 
“Prof.” as a handle to their name, who are allowed to run at 
large without a muzzle, supposed to teach other people how 
to conduct their business, nurserymen were considered a 
fairly respectable class of people. Now, conditions are 
changed and with a class of lecturers running around the 
country telling the planters that nurserymen are rascals and 
that the government now compels them to take out a 
license and also put up a bond of $2000.00 to be honest, it 
places the nurseryman lower than the lowest and he feels 
like undertaking to get into some really reputable business. 
At present all imported stock has to go through the 
Dominion fumigating station first, whether it is free from 
disease or pests or not; then it is turned over to the provin¬ 
cial inspectors and again fumigated if it shows any signs of 
pest or disease. After that, the importer gets what is left 
by paying the bills for inspection. What trees that 
survive is quite another story! 
I presume the conditions are much the same all over the 
United States as well as Canada and apparently the only 
requisite to get the billet of inspector or lecturer, is to be a 
good government supporter. One amusing incident hap¬ 
pened a few years ago when a new man came into my { 
nursery and told me “he had the billet of inspector but 
knew nothing about it and wished me to show him around.” 
I spent some time showing him around, telling him of the 
different fungous diseases, pests, etc. and the next day I 
received a bill from the government for $3.50 for inspection 
—which I paid. Brain food was scarce about that time or 1 
I should have sent in a contra account of $10.00 for pro¬ 
fessional advice as a doctor or lawyer would have done. 
Another inspector compelled me to dip a bale of trees in 
whale oil soap solution that showed a bit of grafting wax on 
the root and had been under the ground long enough to 
turn it white! Another one passed a nice lot of Bartlett 
pears which I shipped to a customer only to have part of if 
them condemned by the next inspector who took a whirl at 
them. No nurseryman who is in business has any objec¬ 
tion to inspection by competent men, but under the present 
regulations he is the “under dog” and if he has any self- 
respect may as well step down and out. 
British Columbia. Western Nurseryman 
PECAN STOCKS TENDER IN THE NORTH 
Dr. Robert T. Morris, the eminent surgeon of New York 
City and nut specialist of Connecticut, reports a heavy loss of 
shagbark hickories on his grounds, which were stock grafted 
on pecans. This injury took the form of bark-bursting, and 
occurred after the first accession of warm weather in March. 
Dr. Morris reasons that the injury was due to the early 
starting of the sap in the pecan stocks, and the sudden drop 
of temperature, following that condition. 
This experience is a useful though an expensive one to 
Dr. Morris, in that it suggests caution in using stocks for 
the propagation of shagbarks which are not themselves 
thoroughly hardy. It is the same principle which meets 
the propagator of plums or of apples in northern sections, 
where root-killing occasionally occurs. Not only must the 
scion be hardy, but the stock itself must be hardy. Dr. 
Morris makes the additional point, growing out of his 
